Child psychology popular press paper. Grudges come naturally to kids – Gratitude must be taught

CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
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Grudges come naturally to kids – Gratitude must be taught
The Conversation (August 1, 2019)
The article by The Conversation discusses a phenomenon in child psychology where the holding of grudges comes naturally to the children, but being grateful is an attribute which they are taught. The theory of the article is drawn from various stories. For example, an example is given of a slave who tended to a hurt lion in a cave and later on the lion saved his life. The perception of the story, as presented shown in the article shows natural and intuitive behaviors of being where you lookout for someone who looked or looks out for you. Young children do not know if they should repay favors (The Conversation, 2019). To them, being looked out for is a right hence they do not need to be grateful for that. On the other hand, they feel that no harm should be done to them, thus natural for them to hold grudges for those who try to hurt them.
The article capitalizes on the theory of reciprocity. It is a theory of “scratch my back I scratch yours”. The law of return favor is deeply rooted in our societies. It is an ethical attribute as well is it legal. For example, in the U.S. lack of returning a favor is an offense. The test carried out on children sought to identify if the children would show gratitude naturally. A computer game that involved donating stickers to other players was used (The Conversation, 2019). It was noted that children do not obey the law of direct reciprocity. Instead of giving stickers to their benefactors, they gave to anyone. The act shows that what the children lack is not kindness, but rather the sense of gratitude.
A test of grudges was also done with the same computer game. On that this time, it didn’t involve donating stickers, but stealing them from fellow players. In this case, the law of direct reciprocity was obeyed to the maximum (The Conversation, 2019). The children without second though readily took stickers from players who had stolen from them before. The researchers went ahead to try figure out what the issue with the children and returning favors was. Especially given that children to live up to societal expectations.
The study showed that children, those below 7 years, didn’t understand what society expected of them. They didn’t know that when done right, they were supposed to return the favor. A conversation with the children, which was targeted at informing what the society expects from them on show...